there. In April 2006 the pre-trial detention centres of the Southern Federal Circuit informed the investigators that Mr Astamirov had not been detained in any of them.
48. After April 2006 various bodies of the interior and the headquarters of the United Group Alliance (UGA) informed the investigators that they had no information about a special operation in Gekhi on 5 August 2002.
49. The investigation failed to establish the whereabouts of Mr Aslanbek Astamirov. The investigation found no evidence to support the involvement of the "special branches" (специальных подразделений) in the crime. The law enforcement authorities of Chechnya had never arrested or detained Mr Astamirov on criminal or administrative charges and had not carried out a criminal investigation in his respect. No special operations had been carried out in respect of the applicants' relative.
50. The Government also noted that the investigation had found no grounds to support the fourth applicant's allegations that she had been ill-treated during the arrest of her husband.
51. As to the applicants' complaint about inability to access the case file, the Government noted that the victims had the right to access the materials of the investigation in full after the investigation had been completed. Since the investigation had still been ongoing, and at times had been suspended, the victims could not be granted access to the entire case file. Furthermore, the Government noted that in July 2005 the applicants and their representatives had been invited to access the available documents from the case file at the district prosecutor's office.
52. The Government stated that the investigation into the abduction of Aslanbek Astamirov had been suspended and reopened a number of times. The latest decision to reopen the proceedings had been taken on 21 March 2008. The applicants had been duly informed of these developments. The investigation was under the control of the Prosecutor General's Office.
53. Despite specific requests by the Court the Government did not submit a copy of the file in criminal case No. 34001, providing only copies of decisions to suspend and resume the investigation and to grant victim status, as well as of the notifications to the applicants of the suspension and reopening of the proceedings. Relying on the information obtained from the Prosecutor General's Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in breach of Article 161 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.
II. Relevant domestic law
54. For a summary of relevant domestic law see Akhmadova and Sadulayeva v. Russia, No. 40464/02, § 67 - 69, 10 May 2007.
THE LAW
I. The Government's preliminary objection
A. Arguments of the parties
55. The Government contended that the application should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They noted in this regard that the investigation into the abduction of the applicants' relative had not yet been completed. They submitted that the applicants had not made use of the rights accorded to them as victims in criminal proceedings, such as lodging applications and requests with the investigators or a court. They could have appealed to a court the investigators' decisions. The applicants were furthermore entitled to sue the investigation bodies in civil proceedings for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage.
56. The applicants disputed the Government's objection. They argued that the criminal investigation had proved to be ineffective and that their complaints to that effect ha
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